Lord of the Serpents
by J. El Lions Lohn Caesar
Summary: Harry develops his parseltongue ability at an early age. Raised by the snakes in Privet Drive, Harry grows up with without the help of people and trust in them. At the age of eight the snakes help him to escape his prison and take him to a safe place in the north. What will he learn, who will he meet, how will he change when he arrives at Hogwarts. Pairing doesn't start untill year
1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Summary - Harry develops his parseltongue ability at an early age. Raised by the snakes in Privet Drive, Harry grows up with without the help of people and trust in them. At the age of eight the snakes help him to escape his prison and take him to a safe place in the north. What will he learn, who will he meet, how will he change when he arrives at Hogwarts.

Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N I planned this to be a three part series starting with Lord of the Serpents which will finish at the end of Fourth year. Part two will be King if the Dragons and will go through to Voldemorts death. Part three, Master of the Thestrals will tell of the rest of Harry's life. Hopefully I can get to the end of all three, read and review but most importantly, enjoy.

Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Conquered sat at his desk in deep thought. Just outside his study were his beautiful wife along with his four children. Today was the twenty fifth of December, his family's first christmas with their new born daughter.

Laughter floated through the slightly ajar door as his loving wife entertained their children. Harry drank in the happy, carefree sounds of his family. His family. It made him grin like a lunatic everytime he said it. For so many years Harry had prayed to any and all god, deity or supreme being to grant him his one wish. To know the love of a family.

Life has not always been so care free for Harry, he grew up in pain and sadness. His childhood was not to be envied and his teenage years even more so. Harry was forced to grow up faster than any should. He learned at the tender age of two what life was like. Life was not fair.

It had all begun on 31 October, 1981.

Lily and James Potter smiled lovingly at there son. Today was Halloween for some and Hallows eve for others. Lily was born to muggle parents and learned to celebrate halloween for what it is for most, a day to dress up and spend time with friends collecting lollies and candies. James was born to a witch and a wizard, he celebrated the magical holiday All Hallows Eve. It was a day to be in touch with one's soul, their magic, and remember those of passing.

Both traditions were mashed into one big day for the family of three. They had all drunk a traditional tea that helped one relax and fall into their inner selves after breakfast. They had carved pumpkins after lunch and decorated with cobwebs, spiders, skeletons and other spooky ornaments. They had visited the Potter ancestral home and its graveyard. Flowers were left at each headstone and all three family members touched the wands set in the tops. Reconnecting there magic to those of the past. They had dressed up and walked through the nearby muggle neighborhood trick or treating with longtime friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Alice and Frank Longbottom and their son Neville.

That is where they had recently returned from. Harry had been dressed in a crimson robe with little stars and a matching hat. He even carried a little, white, wooden staff with a fake, glass ruby on the end. James had even conjured a long white beard for Harry. He was so adorable and Lily even commented that he looked like a little Merlin.

Harry was presently chasing the kitten James had purchased for lily for her birthday in March. The kitten had ginger fur and a little squished nose. To their great surprise it became great friends with Sirius, the only cat to ever like him.

Harry was giggling like mad when he shot a little bolt of light at the cat from his staff causing him to float in the air up towards the ceiling.

"A little Merlin indeed Lily, I can't believe how much accidental magic he is doing lately. I wasn't doing any until at least three and even then it was a broken glass when I was angry. Our Harry's almost doing it consciously, it's amazing." James said to his wife as they watched on.

"Our Harry is just amazing isn't he." Lily giggled lightly in her happiness. Nothing could ruin such a perfect night. She was wrong.

BANG!

The front door was blasted inwards, the handle putting a hole in the wall. Through the dust came a horrific looking man, if one could call it that. He was tall, six foot three inches, completely bald with no nose or lips. His tongue flickered like a snake, his red eyes burned in his pale face. He appeared as a cross between a man and a snake.

"Lily it's him, take Harry and go, I'll hold him off." James yelled at his wife. Lily took Harry in her arms and ran up the stairs. Spell fire could be seen flashing down stairs and their effects heard as they destroyed the small house. A flash of green and a dull thud proved James Potter's life to be no more.

Lily found her way to the nursery up stairs and blasted the wall and roof off. Planning to escape. The door exploded, showering mother and son in pieces of wood. Lord Voldemort entered the room a cruel smile etched on his snake like face.

Placing Harry in his crib with a kiss to his head, Lily turned to face her foe. Her wand was gone from her hand before she had fully faced the monster that stood before her.

"Step aside you silly little mudblood." Voldemort sneered.

"No!" Lilly yelled, tears ran down her face. "You can kill me but you won't get Harry. Please don't hurt him, he's just a boy." Lily begged.

"Move aside and you shall live, remain and you will die." Voldemort stated.

"Please, you can kill me but don't hurt Harry." Lilly pleaded for the life of her son.

"Avada Kedavra." Voldemort replied. A flash of green, Lily's screams, thud, her lifeless body slumped to the ground. To her left, her wand tip glowed a brief blue, just as Voldemort's did though he did not notice it.

Voldemort laughed wickedly at his accomplishment. He had killed two of the people who had down a lit of damage to his cause in one night and now he would kill the one who could possibly defeat him.

"Avada Kedavra." The green light raced towards baby Harry who stared longingly at his mother's body. The curse struck Harry in the head, his body pulsed with golden light. Voldemort's throat was torn as he screamed out in intense pain. His body was disintegrating as he stood in the room. Within seconds all that remained of the most feared dark lord to attack the british aisles in a century was no more.

A black shade burst from the pile of ash and cloak and quickly flew away. Moments later a second, smaller shade broke free from the once body and flew in a different direction, straight at Harry. The young boy only just one year old screamed in pain before the darkness of unconsciousness claimed him.

~

Sirius Black rode calmly on his flying motorcycle to Godric's Hollow. He had been trailing a death eater for the past week and had finally caught his target. Antonio Dolahov was now in Azkaban awaiting his trail. After being away for so long, his first thought was to check on James and Lily.

As he got closer to the house he could see a large hole through the roof. He twisted the throttle and speed as fast as the bike would take him. He skidded to a halt outside the house and ran through the door. The sight brought him to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

James Potter, his friend, brother in all but blood, was dead on the floor. With a heavy heart, he straightened his brothers body and laid his hands on his chest. Slowly, Sirius stood up again and moved through the house.

Up stairs he lost himself again to the depths of sorrow and sadness. Lily was dead too. Again he righted her body and placed her hands on her chest peacefully. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, pooling on the ground by his knees.

Reluctantly, he looked around for his godson. Harry was sprawled out in his bed, blood flowed down his face. Sirius sobbed loudly in his grief. For the third time that night, he righted the body of his family, placing their hands peacefully on their chest.

A pressure on his hands however gave him pause, there it is again, and again. Harry's chest was slowly rising and falling. Sirius placed his finger to Harry's neck and sighed in relief. Harry was alive and well.

He conjured a cloth and wiped the baby's face clean of the blood. Taking a change of clothes from the drawers he changed Harry out of his costume and into a onesie. Scooping the child in his arms he left the room. Harry took first priority, his safety was most important.

"Sirius, Is 'at you." The voice of Hagrid boomed from the garden.

"Hagrid, James and Lily are dead and I think Voldemort is too. But Harry's alive, I don't know how but he's okay." Sirius sobbed out to his half giant friend.

"Dumbledore sent me a message, he told me the wards 'ad fallen and I was to take Harry to em." Hagrid said.

"Can I trust you to get Harry to Dumbledore safely Hagrid." Sorius asked, his voice even.

"Of course, I'd never let anything happen to Harry." Hagrid replied.

"Take Harry to Dumbledore, you can use my bike. Make sure he is safe, do you understand me, protect him with your life. I need to go find Peter." Sirius said. He gently handed Harry to Hagrid with a soft kiss to his godsons head. Hagrid swung a leg iver the bike and raced off into the night sky.

Sirius apparated to the apartment James had given to Peter in central York. He entered the flat expecting a mess and potentially another body. What he found was even worse.

The apartment was completely clean, not an overturned chair or a broken glass. Not a single sign of fight or struggle. Peter was under strict instructions not to leave the house for anything. He and Remus visited often to keep him company. If Peter wasn't attacked then he had betrayed James, Lily and Harry.

Sirius fell into Hit Wizard mode, there was a reason he was one of the top Hit Wizards in the department. He cast detection soell after detection spell, looking for any sign of a port key or apparition.

There, luckily Peter was a poor wizard. About two hours old, an apparition trail however faint it may be. Working quickly Sirius determined where the trail led to and followed. Trial after trial Sorius followed, after the third jump he was certain Peter was trying to cover his tracks, Peter definitely betrayed them.

Every apparition trail Sirius followed he needed to change into his grim form to sniff out Peters physical trail where he ran to another alley or dark corner.

Eleven hours of tracking and Sirius had him. He found Peter about to apparate again out of a small alley in Dove. Just in the nick of time as Peter was about to attempt to apparate to France.

"Stupify" The stunning spell got Peters attention and he was able to dodge it by a hair.

"Sirius, you don't understand, they were going to kill me. Plucked it from my mind, I tried to fight but he was too strong. I only just escaped with my life." Peter said.

"I went straight to your house, no sign of struggle, not a thing out of place. You betrayed us all and for that I will kill you." Sirius growled.

The alley exploded in a burst of flames, a gas main had exploded. Sirius shielded himself and the flames passed around him, burning many people in the streets.

When the flames cleared all that remained was a charred finger and a wand. Peter was gone. Sirius feel to his knees and cried out in anguish. What Sirius didn't know was that a wizard had witnessed the end of this confrontation. He didn't notice when a man petrified him where he sat. Not when group of aurors arrived on the scene or when they placed him in magical suppression cuffs. Nor was he fully aware when they carted him off to Azkaban to await a trial that would never come.

Cornelius Fudge was labeled a hero for catching the man who murdered James and Lily Potter, Peter Pettigrew and thirteen muggles. With his new found popularity he ran for Minister of Magic. He would have lost out to Bartimus Crouch if not for the incident of his son being a death eater. A fact that would have stayed unknown if Fudge had not offered freedom to Igor Karkaroff if he revealed it.

~

Minerva Mcgonagall and Albus Dumbledore appeared in front of number four Privet Drive in the early hours of November First 1981. A click of a small device held by Dumbledore and all the lights went out.

"I am telling you Albus, you can't leave the boy here. You don't know what these people are like, they are the worst kind of muggles imaginable. The boy will not be safe, surely any other wizarding family could take him. Anyone would be honoured to raise him." Mcgonagall argued.

"Which is exactly why any wizarding family cannot raise him Minerva. The boy would be hounded by everyone he sees for something he would not remember. Here he can grow like any other young boy and live a normal childhood. They are his family and will look after him, I am certain." Dumbledore replied.

The roar of an engine steadily grew louder and louder. To their left a light hovering several meters in the air became larger and larger. In the darkness only the light could be seen until it was right in front of them.

"Hello Hagrid, I trust your trip was safe." Dumbledore asked.

"Little tyke slept the whole way." Hagrid said, climbing off of the bike, pulling a small bundle from within his coat.

"Thank you Hagrid." Dumbledore said, taking the small child from the half giants arms. A sob could be heard as large tears fell from Hagrid's eyes.

"Goodbye Harry." The large man mumbled.

"There, there Hagrid." Dumbledore consoled the crying giant. "After all this is not goodbye, merely a see you later."

With a letter tucked into his blanket, Dumbledore rang the doorbell of Number four Privet Drive. It would keep ringing until the door was opened like Dumbledore had charmed it to do this once. The lights were restored to the street and the three disappeared with a crack. Dumbledore taking Hagrid and Minerva shrinking and taking the bike. Harry Potter remained on the doorstep to his new home.

As it turned out, the Dursleys were very deep sleepers and it would be many hours before little Harry was found.


	2. Chapter 2 - Lord of the Snakes

Harry James Potter lived a miserable existence. Although he didn't know that his name was Harry Potter. He only could remember being called Harry by a woman he thought his mother when she died. He had only been called Boy or Freak by the Dursleys. He spent his days cleaning, cooking, scrubbing and more cleaning.

He was kept in the hot water cupboard in the garage, waiting to serve the Dursleys. The cupboard was small and had only a blanket he stole from the rubbish that had been stained with red wine.

He did not know why he was stuck in this horrible house. He was not the Dursleys child, that was for sure. He knew his parents had died when he was young. He remembered it all, the explosion, the bright lights, the screaming, the pain. He thought it may have been a car crash that killed his parents. But that didn't explain the laughing or pleading for his life, nor did it explain those two words. Avada Kedavra.

He knew he wasn't a normal child, he could do things that he couldn't explain. The biggest of these strange abilities. He could talk to snakes.

He learnt this when he was just three years old. Locked outside in the rain for the night he was freezing cold. After all it was the middle of February. There, peeking out from under the house was a little grass snake.

:Come under here, it's warmer: Harry heard something say.

:Wh-who's there: Harry asked.

:It is me, the snake, come under here out of the cold: The voice said again. Harry looked at the snake in shock, snakes can't speak can they. Deciding to listen to the snake he crawled over and under the house. It was still cold but definitely an improvement over the wind and rain.

:How come understand you, I didn't think snakes could speak to people: Harry said to the snake.

:We can't your speaking the snakes language, maybe mother can tell us: the snake replied, slithering off to find its mother Harry guessed. A few seconds later the snake returned with a much larger snake, its mother.

:My daughter says you are a speaker: the snake hissed.

:I think so, I don't know how but I can speak to snakes: Harry replied.

:I have heard stories but I did not think they were real. My father had spoken of wizards like you who spoke the serpent language but I did not believe him. You must be a very powerful wizard: the mother snake said.

:Wizard, like magic. They aren't real, Mrs Dursley says magic isn't real: Harry said.

:Would that be the same Mrs Dursley who locked you out in the cold. Did it ever occur to you she may be lying: The snake scoffed at Harry's stupidity.

:Well I guess, but lying is wrong: Harry said, still unsure of himself.

:So is child abuse sweetie, sometimes people do things that are wrong but we need to make sure we can see that they are. Trust is important but all trust must be earned. Never trust anyone without reason. I suppose this lady wouldn't teach you these things, clearly she does not care for you. What is your name child: The snake asked.

:Harry, I-I think, I'm not sure. They just call me boy or freak: Harry answered.

:My names Jess: the young snake added.

:Harry then, boy or freak are not appropriate names for a child. My name is Jasmine: The mother snake said.

Thus started a relationship that would save Harry's life and ensure he did not face the world unaware of its dangers. Jess became a sister to him and Jasmine his mother. She taught him the values that are important to any living being. Honesty, Honour, Bravery, Courage, Perseverance, Determination, Kindness, Respect, Trust, Love, Friendship. Everything he should have been taught by his own mother.

Along with these lessons Jasmine or Mother as Harry had taken to calling her, taught him of what he was. A wizard. She sat with him day and night as he attempted to learn to control the energy inside of him. After three long months, his piece of paper wiggled. A month later it floated peacefully around the cupboard. Three weeks later he moved the lock on his cupboard and he was free. Over the years Harry learnt to do all kinds of things with his talents.

It still took a lot of concentration to perform and took a few seconds to focus enough. Harry hoped to one day be at a level to move things instantly with just a thought. The most he could lift was about a kilogram but he was improving quickly with his speed.

He had met other snakes in the neighbourhood and had found many friends in his serpent companions. Harry led a secret life in privet drive, he was the lord of the snakes. He helped protect them and they did the same for him.

When he was six they had broken into the pet shops and freed all the snakes there. They did the same at the zoo in london. The little forest near Privet drive was filled with snakes to the point it was not healthy. All the snakes had conversed in one place with Harry to help find a solution. It was Harry that mapped out strategic locations nearby to divide the snakes.

Tribes of snakes had been formed across London in different areas. All the snakes had split into groups, families stayed together no matter what. Over night, thousands if snakes had moved across London to their new homes.

The snakes looked out for Harry as he did them, the tribes no longer needed his help and were baffling scientists with their now highly communal behavior. Harry stayed with his family in Privet drive. His real family with Jasmine, Jess and her siblings. Jasmines mate had been killed by a man not long before they took Harry under their wing. Sadly for all the new family he had, he couldn't escape the Dursleys who still hated him with a passion.

Life hadn't improved on that front after he met the snakes. He was forced to work long hours in the kitchen, garden or cleaning throughout the house. Their treatment of him also got worse.

He was constantly starved by them and locked in his cupboard for weeks at a time. If not for his magic he would have died of dehydration or starvation. Standards were set impossibly high for him, if he failed to reach them he was punished brutally.

Struck with the pan full of oil for not cooking food fast enough. Fingers in the oven, fridge or pantry door for the same reason. The kitchen was Mrs Dursleys domain and she was responsible for punishing his crimes within it. She had broken many wooden spoons over his head and bottom.

Mr Dursley punished him for all kinds of things, hands in pockets, smiling, frowning, being too close, working too slow, being too loud or too quiet, even because he needed to blow off steam.

His favourites were a punch, kick or backhand. The cupboard was where he went after every beating. But Mr Dursleys prized possession and most creative and torturous thing he owned. Was Harry's birthday present.

Every year on the last day of July Mr Dursley gifted Harry a belt. Not just any belt, a thick, hard, leather belt with the big metal buckle. It was placed on the cupboard door and used to whip Harry with. It made a mighty crack when someone whacked it on something and the belt and buckle had done all kinds of damage to Harry's body.

It was only recently that Dudley had taken up Tee-Ball and recieved a big hard bat. Dudley was encouraged by his father to practice his swing all hours of the day. That meant hitting Harry with it whenever the two crossed paths.

Dudley had the itch to hurt Harry in some way, shape or form when ever he saw him. Be that a punch in the stomach, kick to the shin, bat to the back or legs or pushing him over, into walls or down stairs. Dudley was a bully in every sense of the word and took cruel pleasure in seeing Harry suffer.

Harry's only escape was his cupboard. when one first opened the door the hot water cylinder was immediately in front of them. It was only by squeezing around it that you could reach the small space that Harry lived in. The gap wasn't that small, any average man could slip through. However Mr Dursley and Dudley were no average people, they were the fattest in all the land. Beyond fat, so fat that the house was changed to have wider doorways to fit them through. Both of their chairs were made of steel to hold their weight and their bed bases were the same.

Harry's keepers, not family or caregivers, keepers, were horrible people who claimed to be normal upstanding citizens of society. They put up the act to the outside world but behind doors, they were wicked, evil, monsters.

Contrary to his keepers beliefs, he was very intelligent. He had learned to read at age three from recipe books and Jasmine and Jess had expanded his vocabulary. Speaking to snakes was the same as people to Harry. He had stolen Dudley's maths books and learned mathematics in his cupboard. On weekends he escaped to the library and read books on all kinds of things.

He had spent many months looking for the answer in books for a question that bugged him for years. It was only after speaking with Jess that he made progress. She had asked around and after a while gave him the answer he needed. Avada Kedavra was a killing curse used for murder. His parents hadn't died in a car crash at all, they were murdered.

"BOY!" Vernon bellowed. "Come make me breakfast you useless freak."

"Yes Mr Dursley." he replied, quickly walking to the kitchen. He took a pot and filled it with water, setting it on the stovetop to boil. A pan was filled with oil and bacon. Hash browns went into the oven with ridiculous amounts of salt. He placed four pieces of toast in the toaster, buttering them as they were cooked. Shortly he had a pile of toast, poached eggs, crispy bacon and hash browns on the table.

"Go weed the garden boy." Vernon shouted at him, egg yolk running down his chin and bread flying from his mouth. Harry nodded and scurried outside to the garden.

:Good morning milord: a long green snake said from within the flowers.

:Good morning Jess, what can I do for you: Harry hissed back.

:The question to be asked is what can I do for you. My family and the other serpents in the forest have been working hard to help you milord: Jess hissed.

:Is that so, what can you do for me then Jess: Harry extended his hand and let the snake slither onto his shoulder as he worked. Jess was about a meter and a half long and told Harry she would grow to at least half that again. She had dark green scales that were almost black and venom that would kill a small dog or rabbit and make a human very sick for a week.

:Word of you has travelled quickly through the serpent nests all over the land. All the snakes know that the Lord of Serpents is in need of help. Word has returned that there is a king hidden beneath a mountain in the north. He wishes to meet you and asks us to bring you to him. Follow us to the forest where another serpent will take you. You would be free from here and these horrible people: Jess explained.

:Are you sure, what if she doesn't like that you call me lord of serpents. What if she tries to kill me: Harry questioned the plan. Their conversation was broken as a bat came down hard on Harry's shoulder, breaking it and crushing Jess' midsection.

"Freak, how dare you do your freakish things out here." Vernon grunted. He kicked Harry in the ribs, breaking several of them. Vernon took the bat and swung at Jess, she dodged the swing and made a break for the gate leading to the front of the house.

Giving up on the snake he turned back to Harry. The bad came down again and hit Harry in the leg, snapping it clean. He picked Harry's little body up effortlessly and threw him into the rose bush, hundreds of thorns cut into Harry's skin.

Harry was grabbed around the neck and ripped out of the roses again and beaten viciously with fists, feet and bat. After what felt like hours of pure agony and torture Vernon left. Although Harry did not scream. He had learnt that screaming did nothing but bring more pain to shut him up. Tears did not fall from his eyes, he would not give that satisfaction to the man who did this to him. Instead he lay in the dirt, shaking silently in pain.

Vernon returned a minute later with a knife in his hand and an evil grin on his face. Harry shook in terror and tried to get away but his limbs did not obey him. He squirmed and shook as his Uncle tortured him on the lawn. After more agony and pain beyond pain his Vernom stopped. He raised the blade above his head, ready to strike and end Harry's life.

Instead a snake flew from behind Harry and struck vernon in the neck. Hundreds of other snakes burst into the lawn and kept his Uncle at bay whilst others slithered over Harry. Wrapping him in a cocoon of serpents that carried him away. When Harry was away the other snakes retreated and followed after. It would be the strangest sight any had ever scene. Thousands and thousands of snakes racing through the streets.

They travelled out of Privet Drive and carried on out of Little Whinging. People fled in terror from the overwhelming mass of snakes. Police were called and were helpless against the snakes other than to ward off people and keep them safe. The snakes moved quickly in one direction, the forest at the edge of Greater Whinging.

When they reached the trees they carried on beneath the canopy until they reached the small lake within. They moved to the edge and hissed at the water. An enormous snake fourth feet long and a meter in diameter emerged from the lake. It had solid black scales and a silver belly with four silver horns on its head and silver spikes at the end of its tail. Its eyes wee ocean blue and a huge blue stone was set in its forehead like a third eye.

:Where is the boy: the serpent hissed.

:He is here but he is badly injured: a python hissed in reply. The cocoon of snakes feel away to leave Harry lying on the lakes edge.

The enormous snake bent its head low over Harry's form. A drop of blue liquid feel from the stone in its forehead partly healing his injuries. His bones mended partly and his wounds sealed but scars remained. His body would need to rest and finish healing itself.

Harry's eyes snapped open and looked around. He sat up, wincing as his tender muscles and brittle bones still ached.

:Milord, how are you feeling: Jess curled around his shoulders protectively.

:I'm fine Jess, thank you, all of you, you likely saved my life: Harry replied.

:We have not finished saving you yet little lord: The large snake hissed. Lowering its head in a bow and coming to eye level with Harry.

:Are you the serpent sent to take me to the king: Harry asked tentatively.

:I am tasked with bringing you to the king of snakes: The snake replied.

:Do you have a name my friend: Harry asked.

:My name is Helaina. I am a horned serpent gifted with the ability of flight. Climb upon my back my lord and I will take you to our king milord: Helaina answered.

Carefully Harry stood and approached the snake. He swung his leg over her back and held onto her horns. Looking back to the group of snakes that had saved him he spoke.

:Thank you all, today you saved my life and I will not forget: Harry hissed.

Helaina raised her head and the pair raced off into the air. They travelled vertically for a few hundred meters until they were safely above the clouds and out of sight.

Harry was tired and almost asleep on Halaina's back by the time they had arrived. She had hissed at him that they were almost there to wake him. As they dipped below the clouds Harry could see a huge castle on a hill. The windows lit up with bright yellow lights.

"This must be the mountain" Harry said to himself.

They glided in closer, flying just above the waters of the lake the castle looked over. Harry was awestruck by its beauty.

"Of course." Harry berated himself. "Why would the king of serpents not live in a castle.

:Hold your breath milord and close your eyes: Helaina said.

Harry could barely choke out a "What" before they plunged into the icy depths of the lake.


	3. Chapter 3 - The King of Snakes

The cold hit Harry like a brick wall, the water chilling him to the bone instantly. He held his breath and closed his eyes, clinging to Helaina's horns like a lifeline. Which they were, if he let go he would drown. He hung on for what felt like a lifetime. The pain in his chest steadily got worse and worse. his grip loosened slowly as he began to slip into unconciousness.

With a mighty splash they rise out of the water again, precious air filled Harry's lungs. He lay against Helaina's back panting as he filled his body with oxygen. After a minute he raised himself to see where they were.

They were in a large hall over a hundred feet long and thirty fourth feet wide. At the end was a large steel door like a vault. To his left and right a stream ran down the edges. Giant pillars rising out of the water to support the ceiling. The ceiling was invisible and looked just like the night sky outside with a crescent moon and twinkling stars. Each pillar had a snake head sticking out with a fire lit in its mouth, illuminating the room and giving it warmth. The floor was made of large stone bricks but when Harry jumped down onto it, it was soft as a cloud.

:So you have come, I knew you would: a voice hissed from behind him.

Harry spun around to see a snake at least half again bigger than Helaina. His scales were the darkest green all over and his eyes a wicked yellow. He had exited a hole in a large statue of a man's head against the wall. In front of the statue was a large, semicircular pond. It was fed by two water falls to the left and right of the statue and overflowed into the streams on the sides of the hall.

:It is an honour to meet you your majesty: Harry bowed to the great snake.

:None of this your majesty or highness fluff. You are amongst friends. My name is Balthasar, one of three kings of this world. Don't let my title deceive you however, it has lost most of its sway. Snakes are considered creatures of evil and darkness by most wizards. Only the serpents still recognise me as a king. Wizards believe themselves supreme magical beings, really it's quite pathetic. I am inferior to them because I cannot use a wand yet a glare and I could have them unconcious, petrified, dead or hypnotised. They really don't appreciate true power. Take any wizard's wand and he is no better than any other mundane human: The snake chuckled to himself.

:May I ask why it is you wished to see me: Harry asked.

:Ah yes, that would be because you can speak the language of kings. My friend's bloodline is the only that can do so, it is he that wants to meet you: Balthasar said.

:Where is he: Harry asked.

:Just through the hole in the statue, should be on the right: Balthasar answered Harry.

Harry nodded and walked slowly towards the statue. when he stood at the front of the pond twenty stone snakes leapt out from the edges around the pond and twisted together to form a bridge. Harry first tested the bridge with his foot and proceeded to cross it. The statues mouth was just big enough that he could walk through without ducking.

:Hello: Harry called tentatively.

:So you are my descendant, bit small I think, poor posture and low confidence in himself. At least you are young, plenty of time to train you up: A cheerful voice said from Harry's right.

Turning to face the man Harry found not a person but a portrait. The portrait held a man around eighty sitting in a high backed chair. He had pale skin and short grey hair combed over his head. The top of his head was mostly bald and his skin drooping. His eyes were a striking green, just like Harry's. He wore dark green robes with silver hems.

:Yes I know I look rather odd in robes to you probably. I have been keeping up with the outside world through the snakes in the world. Even did a bit of research on you. I understand you were poorly raised by mundanes and that they no longer where robes. Most likely the first time you have meet a talking portrait too I take it: The man spoke to Harry, pacing back and forth in front of the chair.

:Yes sir, my er, the Dursleys do not have magic or wear robes. This is the first encounter I have had with a talking portrait: Harry replied.

:Good work, always address an unknown male as sir and female as Ma'am. This is if course for adults, children usually the best course of action is a Mister or Miss. Now that you have formally addressed me I can either accept it and you continue to address me as such or offer an alternative. In this case the proper reply would be for me to say. Please, call me Salazar, Salazar Slytherin. Do you understand what I have said so far Mr: Salazar said.

:I do, Jasmine taught me how to address people a few years ago. Still I thank you Salazar and please, call me Harry; Harry replied.

:Do you have a last name Harry: Salazar asked.

:I assume so but unfortunately the Dursleys did not impart that knowledge to me. My parents died when I was young and I was left with them. They are not the nicest people: Harry replied sadly, his eyes dropping to the floor and his shoulders sagging.

:That is something you cannot help Harry, do not be ashamed that they have held you back. Always keep your eyes up, back straight and head held high. Looking powerful is half a step to being powerful. I suggest we do a little test to see if you have a known family name. Push with your magic and say, Familius Magicus: Salazar instructed.

:Familius Magicus: Harry called… nothing happened.

:Oh, my apologies, in english this time, not parseltongue: Salazar corrected Harry's mistake.

"Familius Magicus." Harry tried again. Through streams of light burst from his chest, green, red and white.

The green light formed into a snake that curled up and stood on its tail as tall as Harry. Next the red formed a short dragon also as tall as Harry. The white light turned into a strange horse with leathery wings. looking closer at himself Harry realised his chest also pulsed with a black light.

:Well that's something you don't see every day: Salazar said after the animals dissapeared.

:What is it.: Harry asked.

:The spell I just asked you to cast calls uo family magic. Any descendant of the line can cast that spell and a light will pulse of their house colours. A lord or heir however, can call forth the house totem. I was expecting the Slytherin Basilisk as you are my heir, that confirms it. What was unexpected was two other ancient and noble houses totems appearing. Potter and Peverell if I am not mistaken, you my friend have a lot of power in your blood. You will be lord of three ancient and noble houses: Salazar said.

:Er, what are the ancient and noble houses and what does it mean for me: Harry asked.

:Right, next lesson then. During the time of King Arthur when witches and wizards lived in peace the land was ruled by Arthur and the high court. Merlin was Arthur's advisor on the magical side of things. However some still were stuck in the ways of Uther's reign and didn't appreciate magical folk being amongst them. All over the country people were killing witches and wizards in the name of their new god and the Christian religion. The religion was rather pathetic in all honesty. It took the magical religion and removed all the magical bits, changing names and purposes of holidays and sticking to one god not Mother of Magic, Father of Magic and their seven children. We can discuss the magical religion later.

Witches and wizards were dying everywhere and Arthur was losing hold of his kingdom. Merlin decided that the mundane world simply were not ready to accept magic into their lives. He devised a plan to form a wizards council to govern over magical beings and keep magic separate from the world. He brought together eleven knights of magical blood and formed the council. They controlled the magical world and set laws for magical citizens to abide by. When Merlin died they were hard pressed and added ten more families to the council to form the wizengamot. Each family possessed a special family magic that was only available to them and their descendants.

Each family had a totem and a colour or colours. The Ancient and Noble houses had a single house colour and a magical totem. The Black family represented by a thunderbird and the colour black. Bones, Kitsune, light blue. Doge, Sphinx, Gold. Greengrass, Hippocampus, Purple. Lestrange, Mantecore, Yellow. Longbottom, Chimera, Dark Blue. Odgen, Hippogriff, Brown. Ollivander, Phoenix, Orange. Peverell, Thestral, White. Potter, Dragon, Red. Slytherin, Basilisk, Green.

The Noble Houses had a non magical totem and two colours. Abbot, Stagg, Green and Black. Avery, Wolf, Blue and White. Burke, Ram, Yellow and Black. Carrow, Bull, Green and White. Malfoy, Tiger, Red and Black. McMillan, Falcon, Blue and Black. Nott, Stallion, Orange and White. Shafiq, Bear, Brown and Black. Rowle, Monkey, Purple and Black. Yaxley, Raven, Orange and Black.

I think it was Thirteen ninety eight when the ministry of magic was formed by the now named Wizengamot. A few decades later and twenty new seats were available on the wizengamot. Five went to the ministry and fifteen to winners of the award called the Order of Merlin. It was given to those who performed selfless acts for the betterment of society. It was divided into three classes, first, second and third. First class was for things like capturing a person or slaying a beast that had killed many people. Second class would be the same but for a few people or someone important. Third class was for a selfless act that helped in a significant but small way.

For example, a dark lord and his followers are terrorising the country with both wizards and beasts. The first class award goes to those who maybe slayed a raging giant and rescuing a city or to the man who caught the dark lord. Second class would be for the people who apprehended his followers or killed minor creatures like vampires and werewolves. A third class award would be given to someone who helped to rescue people trapped in a building that collapses or douse a magical fire that continued to burn.

Now I've gone on and rambled about the Wizengamot so I might as well finish it. From the Order of Merlin recipients the Wizengamot vote on the fifteen people along the pecking order of class they won. They are reselected every three years but often remain the same until someone retires or dies. It isn't often that they are voted off. Lastly is the chief warlock who acts in place of Merlin. He is responsible for presiding over the council and votes in place of the hereditary seats that are not filled. They chief warlock is selected from the entire council but someone must fill the seat they leave. A lord with no heir cannot assume the chief warlock position and not have his seat filled be that an heir or a proxy: Salazar explained to which Harry listened closely, soaking in every bit of information.

:Hang on a second, couldn't the lord just appoint a proxy and have them not show to any meetings. The vote would be defaulted to the chief warlock and they would get to vote it. It doesn't make sense: Harry said.

:A true Slytherin, of course that is a loophole in the system that has allowed many to assume the role and still vote their seat: Salazar said.

:Can you explain some of the magical animals that represent the houses as well please, I didn't understand what they were: Harry asked.

:No you wouldn't recognise some of them would you. However I cannot tell you everything. Go search my library and make yourself comfortable. The ability to find information in books is important, you must learn to learn on your own, to stand on your own and be independent: Salazar replied.

It was only now that Harry really looked at the room properly. It was a large circular room about ten meters or so in diameter. Standing in the doorway to the left was a raging fire place that was taller than Harry, its flames giving warmth and light to the room along with the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. To the right was a life sized stone statue of salazar in his late twenties on a platform. Directly in front of Harry was a large desk made of a dark, almost black wood. The desk was carved with various snakes and in the center was the crest of the Noble and Ancient House of Slytherin.

A shield with a basilisk curled to make a large 'S' in the center. Above a knight's helmet with a collection of feather sticking out the top. Beneath a banner stretched across with the Slytherin motto 'earn virtus ejus, et dominabitur potestate' translating from latin to 'Earn power and rule with it'.

Behind the desk sat a high back throne like chair with a frame made of the same dark wood and forest green cushions with silver buttons. To the left and right of the desk against the walls were two staircases again made of a dark wood with a green carpet going up them. They joined together on a platform directly above the desk. The remaining wall space was covered in various landscape portraits including hogwarts and shelves with different bits and bobs that Harry had no idea what they did.

Off the platform led to an incredible bedroom. Unlike the study, this room was long and rectangular. Both side walls had long cabinets that when opened were filled with hundreds of robes for a man and a woman as well as any other clothes to go with them. At the back was a four post bed with the same dark wood and green curtains. The pillows and bed sheets were a soft silver material and the duvet was green with a silver Slytherin crest. To the left and right of the bed were two doors that went into a huge bathroom with the largest bathtub Harry had ever seen that took up half the room. He could also spot multiple shower heads on the back wall giving the tub a duel purpose. There were more cupboards with towels and bathrobes. A side room with a private toilet and a vanity and mirror. The whole room was covered in a combination of white and pale green tiles.

Leaving the bedroom and returning down stairs Harry found that behind the desk and occupying the space beneath the bedroom was a fully stocked library with hundreds if not thousands of books. Glancing along the spines Harry moved past all the sections. Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Defensive magic, Offensive magic, Dueling, physical combat, weaponized combat, dark magic, divination, History. There were so many interesting subjects that Harry couldn't wait to read. Quickly he found two books he thought he would need. 'The ancient houses and their history' and 'Magical Creatures of the North and South'. He got comfortable in the desk chair and opened the first book. He fell asleep five seconds later.

~

Harry woke up again some time later, he didn't know what the time was considering he had no watch and there were no clocks in the room. He didn't even know if it was day yet. Looking round Harry slowly remembered where he was and hiw he came to sleep at the large desk. The ceiling, he noticed, was different from what it was last night. Instead of a simple black, it was a Murky greenish colour and showed all kinds of sea creatures swimming past.

:The ceiling is charmed to show the lake above it: Salazar's portrait spoke.

:So I guess it is day then, you don't happen to have a clock around here do you: Harry asked.

:Sadly, I cannot help your time dilemma, you will need to rise to the surface and purchase one:

:How do I do that, I don't have any money either: Harry pointed out.

:Well you produced the slytherin basilisk and the wards let you in here so you are the heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin. Therefore, you can access my vault and use that money to purchase your watch and a wizard's wardrobe. We can't have my heir running around in rags now can we: Salazar chuckled to himself.

Harry followed Salazar's instructions and stood on the bottom step of the left staircase. He placed his thumb on the grove between the fourth and fifth brick and filled a quick sting. He pulled his thumb back and the stone beneath the stairs slid into the wall to show an extended staircase. Harry followed it down to the vault beneath the office and chamber. The room was incredible.

The entire area underneath the chamber was filled with gold, silver and bronze coins. The back wall included a collection of glass cabinets that held all kinds of items made of all kinds of precious metals, gems and other rare objects. A stone archway in the center of the wall led Harry through to a sacred place.

The room was lit with thousands of ever burning candles. It wasn't a particularly large room, maybe five by eight metres. However in the center were two stone tombs. Carved into their lids were the images of Salazar and another young woman. Here lay the bodies if Salazar and his wife. Harry bowed respectfully to the tombs and backed out of the room. He took a handful of each kind of coin and stuffed them in a bag and returned to the office.

:Salazar: Hardy asked.

:Yes Harry:

:Your wife, what was her name:

:I suppose I should tell you this story, but for now you have a job to do. Go to Hogsmeade village hall and buy your robes, watch and I would also suggest some breakfast as well as toiletries. We are rather low stocked on them. When you return with no less than ten robes I will tell you my story: Salazar promised him.

:Okay, just one more question, how do I get to this Hogsmeade place: Harry asked.

:Right, if you look above the fireplace you will find a small pot on the mantel. Inside is what's called floo powder, take a handful and throw it into the flames calling the destination. Then you just walk right in and keep walking until you come out the other side: Salazar explained.

Harry followed his instructions and was soon standing in the atrium for the Hogsmeade Village Hall. Harry left the building and looked for a robe shop. The first one he found was labeled 'Twilfitt and Tattings'. He entered the small shop and began to browse the robes they had on offer.

"Oi, get out of here." A man yelled at him as he stormed over. "These are high end robes not for the likes of you. Go to the second hand robe shop that you can afford." The man picked him up by his collar and threw him out the door.

Harry scrambled back to his feet and turned back to the shop. It was only when he saw his reflection in the windows that he saw the problem. His hair was messy and dirty and his clothes were even worse. He needed a change of style if he was to lead a new life with Salazar, Balthasar and Helaina.

New life, new friends, new look. First step were some better clothes. Harry walked along the streets until he found what he was looking for 'Sally's Second Hand Robes'. Entering the shop Harry looked for the smaller robes. He picked out a nice pair of dress shoes, some grey trousers, a white shirt, green tie and some plain black robes that looked tidy. Taking them to the desk Harry paid two gold galleons and six silver sickles for his clothes.

"Thank you ma'am, enjoy your day." Harry said as he handed the coins over.

"You know, with your new robes I think you would look great with a haircut to go with it." The lady said.

"I didn't realise you did haircuts, I was about to go find a barbershop." Harry replied.

"Oh you wouldn't find any around here, most people do them themselves but robe shops will get it done too. What are you looking to get. She asked. Thirty seconds later, half the hair in Harry's head vanished and he was left with shorter hair that kept it off his ears and out of his eyes.

His new do acquired Harry left to find some food. The shop clerk pointed him in the direction of The Three Broomsticks, the best pub in town. After some delicious pancakes and a bottle of Harry's new favourite drink, butterbeer, he continued on his quest.

He returned to the first shop he had come across with the nicer robes, Twilfitt and Tattings. This time when he entered he wasn't kicked out but welcomed into the store.

"What can I do for you today young man." The same man greeted him.

"I'm looking for a new wardrobe, you see our house caught fire and although the house is fine, all my stuff is ruined." Harry explained which was true, the dursley house had caught fire and at the time his only shirt had been ruined. The only difference was that the fire was only in the kitchen and his shirt was ruined because his aunt pushed him at the flames yelling to put them out. He wasn't lying, just not giving all the details.

"Not to worry, we will have a wardrobe sorted for you in no time." The man assured Harry. No time seemed to really mean hours in this man's mind. Harry spend hours picking all sorts of clothes and robes, trying them on and adjusting them where needed. He did manage to find a watch that showed the time, date and stage in the lunar cycle. After a lunch in the same pub Harry made his way back to the hall and returned to Salazar's office using the destination :Balthasar's abode:


	4. Chapter 4 - Salazar's Tale

"I was born in the year 943 to Septimus Slytherin and Morgana Gaunt. King Arthur died when I was three years old, my grandfather took me to meet him once. He was a wonderful man from what I remembered of him. Arthur had no heir at the time and in the kingdoms struggles to cope with his death, a neighboring kingdom stormed the castle's walls and over through the once mighty kingdom. Of course the people of Camelot were forever loyal to King Arthur and by the time I was seven Camelot was brought crumbling to the ground. It was in fact the knights that destroyed it, they along with the people believed that if the Pendragon's could not rule it then none shall.

I was eight years old when magic was outlawed once again. Mundanes all around the country were actively seeking out magical people and murdering them. Men, women and children of all aged were burnt, drowned, hanged or stoned to death. Slytherin Pride was the village that I grew up in. Most of the noble families had a village or town on their land. They all knew or at least suspected my family were magical but we gave them a home so they did not act against us. That is until the priest came.

Priests began to spread across England to share their religion of the one true god. It was a spit in the face of wizarding religion. Taking all of our beliefs and simply cutting out everything magical about it.

The magical religion is of course based from the Mother of Magic, Father of life and their seven children. Their first four children, the siblings of the elements, son of fire, daughter of earth, brother of sky and sister of sea. The siblings constructed the planet with the four elements, Father of life brought all manner of creatures to the planet and Mother magic gave magic to some.

Now with a planet and life to inhabit it, things needed a direction to travel in, The Lady of Fate was born to determine the paths that each would take. Of course everything also must come to an end and the Master of Death came to be.

For thousands of years the world lived in peace, magical and mundane species coexisting with one another. Until Mundane humans decided magic was evil. Myrddin Emrys was born, the seventh child of the creators, the only of the divine that would walk the earth amongst us. It was his role to restore peace between us all.

He achieved his goal with the help of King Arthur and peace was made but Merlin's role was not finished. He knew that peace would not last and created the Wizengamot to carry on in his stead after he rejoined his family in the heavens.

He was right and peace did not last, the war between magical and mundane resumed more terrible than before, and I was stuck as an eight year old kid in the middle of it. Stories of the witch burnings made there way to Slytherin's Pride and we were not unaware of what was happening.

When I was fourteen the priest had convinced the mundanes to remove the evil that was magic in the village. Whilst I was away studying magic for the week they stormed Slytherin manor and burnt every last one of my family members. Anything of value was stolen from my home including many heirlooms. The priest took the manor and turned it into a church for his god. A tribute to their success in fighting evil.

I returned to find every last member of the village in my family hall praying to their god. My family's mangled bodies were heaped in a pile in the back garden. The family graveyard destroyed and tainted. All priceless artifacts gone.

Not a single person left the hall when I returned.

I burnt their bodies in the small church they had in the village. I took back all my family's wealth and all the wealth the village people had. The war wards of the manor were raised and I left again after burying my family and paying my respects.

I travelled south to Londinium, the chamber of the Wizengamot and where I could find help. On my travels I crossed paths with another wizard though slightly older in the same position. Godric Gryffindor was on the run from mundane witch hunters who were after him. He had returned home to find his wife and daughter raped and hung in the village centre. He also killed the men in the village that did it, he killed fourth eight men he told me.

Godric was twenty seven at the time, his daughter only thirteen. His wife was a mundane born magical child. He told me how his wife had no skill in magic and if she had been trained like himself then she would not have died. His daughter had fought strongly and slayed seven men before they subdued her.

It was his goal to educate magical children in the first ever school of magic that made me join him. Godric was extremely knowledgeable in the magical arts and had started his daughters education at eleven when her magic had matured. I was more powerful and had begun my education at eight so was already relatively competent in magic.

On our quest to find knowledge to teach children and others to join our cause we met Rowena Ravenclaw. She was a mundane born who was highly intelligent but abused by her mundane father who used her gift for his own benefit.

We also met a lovely lady by the name of Helga Hufflepuff who used magic to heal any one who asked. She was the village crazy lady in her town but loved by all and had a soft spot for children. By the time I was twenty one we were ready to begin our quest.

Godric was a master in battle magic, defensive and offensive. Rowena was a master of charms and runes. She developed runic wards that would last a lifetime and could charm just about anything to do what she wanted. Helga was a healer at heart, she was a brilliant potioneer and had a knack for healing spells. I was better at transfiguration than all the others but my upbringing in a noble house meant my knowledge of the subtler subjects like arithmancy, astronomy and history I was also capable of teaching.

With our crafts learnt, we only needed to teach them to the masses and find a place to teach from. We decided to return to Slytherins Pride where we knew of large lands we could build upon.

We built the school slowly with many things in mind. Godric was certain that it must be easily defendable and a fortress in its own to withstand any attack, mundane or magical. Helga ensured the castle was comfortable and a suitable learning environment for all ages.

Over the time that it took to construct we had also developed how the school would be run. We would each teach the classes we wanted to and take on an apprentice or two that would teach the lower years and potentially remain after they earned their masters.

Each of us as the founders would divide the students into our houses. A house points system would be in place to ensure rules were enforced and success was rewarded. Each of us would place our dormitories somewhere within the castle.

I chose the dungeons beneath the lake for my dormitories, Helga selected the cellars near the kitchens and Godric and Rowena both chose a tower on the top levels of the castle.

All though all of us did it and all of us knew the others did it. Each of us placed a secret chamber within the castle. The others were never able to find my chamber but mine is the most well known for existing. Rowena built a fancy room on the seventh floor that would become anything and had a blood ward to take any of Ravenclaw blood to her study when they entered. Godric placed his beneath the ground in a heavily guarded area of the forest, surrounded by creatures to protect it. His sword was also the key to opening it. Helga placed a study in the library that is only accessible to her descendants.

By age thirty our school was crafted and fully operational. Within a year we had all the kinks worked out and masters in their craft all around the globe came to teach.

Hogwarts was the first magical school in the world and we accepted students from anywhere and everywhere. Every country, culture and race had students in our school. Centaurs taught students astronomy and divination. Goblins gave fencing lessons and taught financial management. Merpeople taught students of the magics beneath the waves.

Anyone was welcome to learn or teach their craft. The village once named Slytherins Pride was renamed Hogsmeade Village and became the first ever entirely magical village. Life was brilliant but I was lonely.

Sarah and Johnathon Rosmerta were the owners of the new pub in town, the three broomsticks. She was a squib and her brother a half blood. She was absolutely beautiful though and the kindest woman I ever had the pleasure to meet. Two years later we were married and she was pregnant. My thirty third yule gift came in the form of twin sons. Samuel and Sebastion Slytherin were born just minutes apart.

Samuel was a model student, brilliant at battle magic and potions and powerfully magically. Sebastion was a squib like his mother but it did not deter him. His understanding of runic magic and potions was second to none. The things that boy could do with a chisel were amazing. He was the first non goblin that the goblins had taught runes and warding too, usually they keep such secrets to themselves. I could never have been prouder of both boys accomplishments.

However, they had one key difference between them. Where Sebastion was kind and caring, holding no hatred or jealousy to those with magic and instead finding ways around it. Samuel was the complete opposite, he believed only he should have magic and only those with magic were worthy of knowing him.

I fear that he took my ideals to far, it was my belief that we should completely cut ourselves off from the muggles. It is a misconception of today that I hated mundane borns. Really it was just a despise of mundanes. Mundane people and those raised by them were unhygienic and most were illiterate. I wanted to turn the south wing into an orphanage and raise all mundane borns in the castle.

Every mundane born was an entire muggle family that knew about magic. Countless amount of times I have gone to a mundanes home to inform them of their child's magic. At least half those children died as soon as I left.

But the other three didn't like the idea of taking children from there families and I was forced to accept that. Without their permission I would not be able to do anything.

I did however make some progress a few years later. Rowena came to me with concerns about students that did not return after a year or two. I helped her see the truth that people were killing their own children because they had magic. With her help I was able to make an exception. All students had the option to stay in the castle over the summer. Classes would not be in session to give them an advantage but they would be safe.

When I was fifty years old Samuel and Sebastion got into a fight. He told him that he was a disgrace to the name of Slytherin and should be ashamed of himself. The fight quickly turned violent and the curses flew from Samuel whilst Sebastion defended himself with his staff that he had crafted to absorb ambient magic and refocus it through runes.

Sarah intervened and she was killed with a stray curse, Samuel had killed his own mother. I screamed at both boys for their foolishness and lack of control. Sebastion was distraught and mourned for months over his mother's death, I don't think he ever quite recovered fully. Samuel was completely opposite, a said she deserved nothing less for being a filthy squib playing in the world of wizards.

I disowned him then and their and banished him from the castle. He left for England and took up my mothers maiden name when he joined my cousins. I should have seen it coming, he was an arrogant child who believed himself above everyone else. He attacked students that were not wizard born and hated Godric, Helga and Rowena with a passion. But I guess what they say is true, hindsight is the clearest of them all.

My friends helped me as much as they could, Sebastion meet a wonderful young lady from France with fiery red hair and a temper like no other but he loved her dearly. Begonia was her name, as sweet and caring as her namesake.

They had one child who was also a squib and they lived in the village enchanting objects and selling them to make a living. I always told Sebastion that if he ever needed anything at all he only need to ask me. He of course told me that he would make his own way in the world if he could and returned the offer if I ever needed him.

Godric married a witch by the name Gwenivera Greengrass, she was a daughter of Lord Greengrass and they had many children. Godric died in his one hundred and eighth year just after his great grandson was born.

Helga was already too old to bare children but she took each of the orphans that stayed in the castle as her own. She married a medi wizard named Harold Oswald and they adopted and raised multiple children.

Rowena married Robert Charleson, a mundane born that was abused by his parents like her. They had one daughter named Helena who was a bit of a rebel to her parents. She didn't like living in the shadow of her mother's intelligence. It is truly sad what happened to her. She was a few years younger than my own sons, four years younger to be precise.

When she was nineteen she ran away with her mothers diadem never to be seen again. thirty three years later Rowena was dying in grief after her husband was killed by his brothers. She asked me to find her daughter to see her one last time. I did everything in my power to help my friend and so did Godric.

My son was living abroad and had made some amazing discoveries with potions and runes. I asked for his help and he was able to find her location. He volunteered to find her as she was in a heavily mundane area. He left to find her in a place called Albania.

Three months later Helena showed up on the castle doorstep covered in blood and tears. She told us that she had been found by Sebastion and thought he was trying to steal the diadem. She stashed it in a tree knot and ran. When he caught up to her she pulled a dagger from her robes and stabbed him in the gut.

It was as he bled to death that he told her the truth, how her mother was dying and wished to see her one last time. She buried his body in the forest and searched for the diadem but could not find it. She died with her mother two days later from emotional distress.

It is truly sad that only Godric's and my line continued. But it is as Helga said when Godric asked her what she would do about having no children before she died.

"Every child that walks through these halls is a child of mine. They may not carry my blood in their veins but all of them carry my legacy, our legacy. Every child that learns from these halls is continuing my line. Every accomplishment that each student achieves brings pride to the houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They say we die thrice in this world, first when we breathe our last breath, second when our bodies have decayed into nothingness and last when our name is last spoken. What we have done here will make us immortal for as long as someone learns. As long as the names Godric Gregory Gryffindor, Rowena Rose Ravenclaw, Salazar Septimus Slytherin and Helga Helena Hufflepuff are spoken with pride our legacy shall live.

Those were the last words she spoke and wiser words I have never heard before. Remember that Harry, you can be the very best at everything and still be lost to time. But if you touch the heart of just one person, you will live on through them. Do you know who Johnathon Jefferson was Harry?" Salazar asked.

"No, who was he." Harry answered.

"What about Arthur Pendragon?" Salazar asked again.

"He was the last magical king of britain and widely known as the greatest king to ever rule." Harry replied.

"Johnathon Jefferson was the third king of Magical England. He conquered every kingdom in England through brute force. He was killed by Percival Pendragon who returned the lands and claimed Camelot for himself. Jefferson was the greatest warrior of his age and beat everyone but was also a cruel and wicked man. Nobody remembers him. Arthur Pendragon was known as the greatest king to live and he only took on one battle, the battle of Camlann against Mordrid and Morgana Lee Fay, my great grandfather's daughter. He was kind and caring, even helping my family to recover after the taint she placed on our family. He touched the hearts of everyone and despite not conquering the world is widely known as the greatest king to ever live." Salazar explained.

"Arthur took a great kingdom and made it the best by rising everyone else up to stand with him.. Johnothan took an average kingdom and made it the best by destroying all the others. The top of the ladder is lonely with nobody to share it with Harry, remember that."

"I think I understand." Harry said.

"Harry, every person is unique in their own way, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. No matter how insignificant a strength may seem it is still a strength. You may think that someone is a weak idiot with no worth at all. But everyone has their strengths, he may be a prodigy at finance or politics or law but just hasn't been exposed to it. Everyone has potential to be great at something. Every strength is useful be it in a minor way like having a knack for fashion or be it a major strength like a legendary warrior. I guarantee that at some point you will need to dress in a certain way for an event and that minor strength will save your life. No one is worthless." Salazar said.

~

Salazar gave lessons to Harry like these at random points over the next three years. Salazar was of the opinion that it was not his role to teach Harry anything or tell him what to do. His role was to give Harry knowledge, what he did with it was up to Harry.

"Wisdom comes with experience Harry, the only way to give you my wisdom is to give you my experiences." Salazar had said.

He still taught Harry things he should know but these were not magic lessons. They were the lessons he gave to his sons about life and what he would need to know as the heir of Slytherin.


	5. Chapter 5 Hogwarts Awaits

A/N(1) Just to clarify, the mention of the christian religion being an off shot of the wizarding beliefs is in no way me being against christians. I personally am not religious but everyone is entitled to their beliefs as long as they don't force them on others. The wizarding religion is purely of my imagination and has no real historical groundings. I apologise if anyone found offense in my use of their religion or explaining it as I did. I just needed to include some form of wizarding religion to further add conflict between magical born and muggle born. By having the muggles religion derive from the wizards but cut out everything magical I could do this easier. I am in no way against anyone's religious beliefs and this story is not a strike against the christian religion. I can see why most tend to avoid creating a wizarding religion and apologise if anyone found offense in my writing.

A/N (2)I can't do the Hagrid accent so he will talk normally, if someone wants to rewrite all his speech for me then I will change it but at the moment I am writing Hagrids speech normally.

September 1st, 1991

The air was thick with emotion on platform nine and three quarters. Sadness from parents sending their children away for the next four months. Excitement from young children of what awaits them at the end if the train ride. Most importantly, happiness filled the hearts of all. Happy parents to see their children grow. Happiness of children to reunite with friends or make new ones.

The whistle sounded and the train slowly chugged out of the station. Small arms and heads stuck out the windows as they waved goodbye to their families remaining on the platform.

In the last compartment of the last carriage sat a young man wearing immaculate and expensive dark green robes. He had a mop of silky raven black hair on the top of his head that was combed over to the side. He had a small triangular nose, high cheekbones and definitive jawline. His most striking feature on his unblemished face. a pair of sharp, intense, emerald green eyes that portrayed an intelligence and maturity that nobody his age should have.

The boy sat leaning against the window, his legs extended across the seat, a book in his hands that held all his attention. The compartment door slid open and a young boy in scruffy stone wash jeans, a red hoodie and bright, orange hair entered.

"Can I sit here, the rest of the carriage is full." The boy said shyly.

"Of course, I don't own the compartment, I'm Hadrian, Hadrian Peverell." The raven haired boy said, marking his book and putting it aside.

"Ron Weasley." The ginger boy replied.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr Weasley, are you a first year as well." Hadrian asked.

"Yeah, I can't wait to learn cool spells, my brothers tried to teach me how to turn my rat yellow but it didn't work." Ron said.

"Yes, it will be great to finally use my wand. I've been itching to cast a spell since I got it." Hadrian agreed.

The compartment door slid open again and a very bushy haired girl with brown eyes and two slightly oversized front teeth entered followed by a very chubby boy with short dark brown hair.

"Has anyone seen a toad, Neville here has lost one." The girl said.

"Did you know that in some cultures, the common practice when faced with an unknown person is to introduce yourself. Hi, I'm Hadrian Peverell and this is Ronald Weasley." Hadrian replied.

"Oh, right, Hermione Granger, this is Neville Longbottom." The young girl said.

"Longbottom you say, are you of the main Longbottom line or a cadet branch of the family." Hadrian asked.

"M-my Father was Lord Longbottom before he was er… incapacitated." Neville said shyly.

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you heir Longbottom. You say your toad is missing." Hadrian asked.

"Yes, we already said that, weren't you listening. Have you seen the toad or not." Hermione snapped.

"No need for hostilities." Hadrian said. A quiet hissing could be heard if one listened closely coming from Harry's left arm. "I believe the bathroom of the fourth compartment has found a toad friend, you may want to try there."

"Thank you." Hermione huffed "Lets go Neville." She grabbed the boys arm and practically dragged him away.

"I don't think I would mind if I wasn't sorted into what ever house she is." Hadrian said bluntly causing Ron to laugh.

"You can say that again, what house do you want to be in. I'm going for Gryffindor, it's the best house. Hufflepuffs are all duffers, Ravenclaws are obsessed with books and slytherins are all evil." Ron said.

"Well that's rather prejudice don't you think. Gryffindor has produced its fair share of evil, below average and over studious wizards." Harry retorted.

"Name me one evil Gryffindor." Ron asked.

"Most recently, Sirius Black comes to mind. Antonio Dolohov was also a Gryffindor death eater. Historically Gellert Grindelwald was sorted into Gryffindor for his seventh year after being expelled from Durmstrang." Harry answered.

"And we all know that they were really slytherins pretending to be in Gryffindor so we wouldn't notice them." Ron bit back, determined to defend his house.

"Maybe but we will never know, all the houses can lead to the production of bad people and good people. However you can't name a quarter of the population evil just because an old, magical hat says they are cunning or ambitious." Hadrian said.

"What do you mean a hat, my brothers said we fight a troll and how we do it determines our house." Ron said aghast. Hadrian just chuckled and shook his head, returning to his book.

An hour later the compartment door was once again opened and this time two girls entered. The first had long brown almost black hair that cascaded halfway down her back in soft curls. She had soft hazel eyes and a smile firmly stuck on her face. The second girl had straight blonde hair and pale blue eyes that showed no emotion.

"Hello ladies, Hadrian Peverell, what can I do for you." Hadrian asked.

"Tracey Davis." The brown haired girl said happily.

"Daphne Greengrass." The other said flatly.

"Come on Daph, at least be a little bit happy, we are going to Hogwarts. So what houses do you two think you will be in." Tracey asked.

"Gryffindor." Ron said straight away.

"Well I don't really know. I'd like to think I am hard working and trustworthy but Hufflepuff is far to social for me, I do enjoy my personal space. Gryffindor could be an option but they are very loud and brash and not really for me. Ravenclaw could have potential but from what I have heard they put too much faith in books and don't question anything. I've always questioned everything I learn and am told, so I wouldn't fit in. Slytherin could also be a possibility but I don't really enjoy the politics that would be involved with being in that house." Hadrian replied.

"Well I personally would prefer Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Gryffindors are far too loud and reckless for me and Hufflepuff really just isn't for me. Daphne is a definite snake so I think I might try for the serpents nest." Tracey said.

"So where do you sit in the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass Daphne." Hadrian asked.

"My father is Lord Greengrass and I am his heiress, before you try he will not sign me into a betrothal contract." Daphne replied coldly.

"I have no intention of gaining your hand in marriage at the moment heiress Greengrass. However nobody but Lady Fate herself knows exactly what the future may bring us. I can assure you that I will not be requesting a betrothal contract between us." Hadrian smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Well it was nice to meet the both of you, perhaps we will see you around." Tracey said and departed the compartment with her friend. It was only ten minutes before the door was once again opened.

Three boys stood in the corridor. A slim pale boy with platinum blond hair and grey eyes was flanked by two very large boys that looks uncannily like gorillas.

"Hello, what can I do for you." Hadrian asked.

"I heard that another Weasley was here, I just had to check for myself if it was true. It is truly amazing how you just keep coming like a stream. Your mother must be as loose as a goose." The blond boy laughed.

"Well that is rather rude of you, at least have the courtesy to introduce yourself before throwing insults. Hadrian Peverell, and if I was to take a guess we have a very self important person and his bodyguards." Hadrian said.

"Draco Malfoy, heir to the Noble House of Malfoy, this is Crabbe and Goyal." Draco said.

"Well Draco, heir to the Noble House of Malfoy, I am Hadrian Peverell, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Peverell and I politely request that you and your goons leave the compartment." Hadrian stood and walked to the door as he spoke. Before Draco could reply the door was closed in his face.

"Filthy evil snakes, told you slytherins are evil." Ron spat.

"Just because you get one bad egg doesn't mean the entire coop is diseased." Hadrian said.

"Why are you defending him, you heard what he said." Ron replied.

"I'm not defending him, I'm defending Slytherin house. All the houses have bad and good people, it is idiotic to judge one hundred people from the actions of one person. Besides, I am certain he is just a confused little boy trying to act like an adult, he likely just regurgitates his father's words." Hadrian said

"Your one of them aren't you, an evil snake, to think I actually thought you were alright. Get away from me you little death eater. Not very cunning are you, ruined your entire plan by catching you out didn't I." Ron yelled.

"If you do not like being here the door is right there. All four houses of Hogwarts have their pros and cons. If you are to blind to see that then that's your problem." Harry replied calmly. Ron's face was red in anger as he pulled his trunk from under the seat and stormed out of the compartment.

"What's got him in a huff." A tall girl with black hair and brown eyes poked her head through the door. She already wore her Hogwarts robe and green tie, a badge was pinned to her chest with HG on it.

"Apparently I'm an evil snake that fooled him into thinking I was one of the good guys. Ruined my entire plan to invade the Gryffindors he did, quite proud of himself for it too." Hadrian laughed.

"So I take it you are a first year." She asked.

"Yes, Hadrian Peverell."

"Jasmine Abbot, this year's head girl. You might meet my sister Hannah, she starts this year." Jasmine said.

"Pleasure to meet you Jasmine, lovely name Jasmin is, my mothers name in fact."

"I'm sure your mother is a very wonderful woman."

"She was the best." Hadrian sighed.

"I'm sorry for your loss, I guess I will see you round Hadrian, remember if you ever have any trouble or problems you can come see me." Jasmine offered.

"Thank you Jasmine, I may take you up on that one day." Hadrian said as the older girl left the compartment

Hadrian resumed his book and sat quietly for the rest of the train ride. The whistle blew fifteen minutes before they reached Hogsmeade station. Harry changed into his uniform and returned his book to his trunk. The train stopped at the station and it was flooded with students within seconds.

"First years over here, all first year students this way." A thundering voice bellowed from the front of the station. Hadrian followed the sound to find the largest man he had ever seen. The man was easily twice Hadrian's height and Hadrian wasn't short by any standard. He had dark brown eyes and big bushy black hair. He wasn't fat but still had a very wide and large build.

"Alright then, is that all of you. If you follow me I will be escorting you across the lake and into Hogwarts." The man said in his deep, loud voice.

The herd of eleven year olds nervously followed the large man down a narrow, winding path. About two minutes later they stopped at a small dock with lots of little wooden boats.

"No more than four to a boat." The man called put, climbing into a boat of his own that only just seemed to hold him. The group hastily climbed into boats of their own.

"Mind if join you." Hadrian asked two girls who sat in a boat by themselves. The two shook their heads and he climbed in.

"I'm Hadrian Peverell." He introduced himself.

"Hannah Abbot." The girl on the left replied.

"Suzan Bones." The other said.

Hannah had light brown hair tied up in little pigtails. Her skin was pale and her eyes a blue grey colour. Suzan also had pale skin and hazel eyes with curly red hair.

"I believe I meet your sister Jasmine, must be great to have an older sister to look up to." Hadrian said.

"Yes, Jazz is awesome, the whole family was surprised when she was sorted into Slytherin and not Hufflepuff." Hannah replied.

"Well that doesn't mean she isn't hard working or loyal. It only means she is even more ambitious or cunning." Hadrian said.

"I suppose so, I still hope I go to Hufflepuff, even if the rest of the school thinks they are weaker." Hannah said quietly.

"Now that's rubbish if I've ever heard it, what would make Hufflepuffs be weaker than any of the other houses." Hadrian scoffed.

"Hufflepuff has only won the house cup seven times since the school was founded." Suzan said.

"And that means absolutely nothing. It's like saying a rune master is bad at magic because he can't win duels. The house cup only judges quidditch which is historically one by Gryffindor or Slytherin because most players are either more brave or ambitious than anything else. Ninety percent of the time the quidditch cup winner also wins the house cup. If you look beyond Hogwarts you will find Hufflepuffs usually make top ministry spots because they are hardworking." Hadrian replied loudly, drawing the attention of some of the students nearby.

"Dufferpuffs, high ministry spots, are you mad." Draco Malfoy laughed.

"History shows that Hufflepuffs tend to be more hardworking than any other house and that means they tend to rise through the ranks of the ministry pretty fast. Gryffindors tend to go to sport or law enforcement, Slytherins are generally politicians or business owners and Ravenclaws mix between them all. It's in the house traits that it would divide this way at least partially. It doesn't mean anyone is more or less likely to get a job because of their house, it's not really looked at but it does end up this way more often than not." he explained.

Surprisingly to some, Draco Malfoy stayed quiet. It seemed he might have actually considered what was said and not just dismissed it as rubbish.

"You will get your first look at the castle just up ahead." There was a collection of oohs and aahs as they came around the corner. Looming over the lake in the darkness, lit brightly from the windows was an incredible castle. Its turrets and towers made it look more like a fortress than a school.

"Watch ya heads." Hagrid called out. Everyone dipped their heads down as the boats passed beneath a curtain of vines and into a boat house. They stepped out and followed the path up the side of the hill.

The came to a stop outside two enormous wooden doors. Hagrid knocked forcefully three times and they opened partly to leave a small gap.

"The first years Professor Mcgonagall." Hagrid said to the slit in the doors. They swung the rest of the way open so they could see an older witch in dark green robes and a matching hat. Her greying hair was pulled back in a tight bun that seemed to pull the skin back on her face giving a very stern look.

"Thank you Hagrid, if you would all follow me." The stern witch, Professor Mcgonagall, turned and walked down the corridor and up some stairs to the left. The group of children followed until they stood anxiously outside a second set of very large doors.

"The start of term banquet will begin shortly," Mcgonagall began a well rehearsed speech she had repeated far to many times. "but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

She walked down a side corridor leaving the first year students standing nervously in the entrance hall. Some straightened robes, others flattened hair, a couple even began to chew their fingernails.

"Well this is rather disappointing." Draco Malfoy drawled. "I was told Harry Potter would be starting Hogwarts this year."

"It's not like Harry Potter would be friends with death eaters like you Malfoy." Ron Weasley snapped back.

"Well that's a bit far don't you think Ronald. Perhaps Harry Potter is so far ahead of his year mates that he is privately tutored. After all, he did defeat Voldemort at the age of one." Hadrian said, ignoring the jumps and gasps at the name.

"Don't say his name." Ron said through gritted teeth.

"I thought you wanted to be a gryffindor, not going to happen if you are afraid to say an itty bitty name and a fake one to boot." Hadrian teased slightly.

"What do you mean fake." Draco asked.

"There is no house Voldemort in existence." Hadrian replied.

"Maybe it's a first name, could be comparing himself to people like Merlin. After all, Merlin is referred to as Lord Merlin not Lord Emrys." A dark skinned boy reasoned.

"Lord Voldemort Slytherin, could be a possibility but I have found the truth, rather amusing to be honest. His true name is Tom." Hadrian laughed.

"This isn't a laughing matter Peverell." Draco said.

"Of course not, Tom Marvolo Riddle, a student of Hogwarts in the early forties. His name can be rearranged to spell 'I Am Lord Voldemort', his school years directly coincide with the opening of the chamber of secrets, supposedly from Slytherin's heir." Hadrian explained.

"Okay that is too many facts to be a coincidence." Tracey Davis admitted.

"Students if you would follow me." Professor Mcgonagall said when she returned. The doors opened to reveal the Hogwarts great hall. Four tables ran the length of the hall, one for each house. At tge front sat the staff table with the Headmaster in his throne like chair. The walls had multiple braziers giving both warmth and light to the hall. The ceiling depicted the night sky outside and thousands of little candles floated above their heads to light the hall.

Mcgonagall stood in the raised platform that the staff table sat on and placed a stool and battered hat down. She held a scroll of parchment in her hand and waited patiently for something.

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!

The hall burst into applause for the old hats song. It bowed once to each table and went limp once more.

"When I call your name, you will place the sorting hat on your head and be sorted into your houses. Abbot Hannah." Professor Mcgonagall called.

The young girl was quickly sorted into Hufflepuff. On the sorting went as students were sorted to all four houses.

"Peverell Hadrian."

Hadrian kept his back straight, head high and eyes forward as he approached the hat. He sat on the stool and felt the fabric fall down over his eyes.

"Well hello there young Hadrian, where to sort you hmm." Harry heard the voice in his mind.

"Good to see sebastian's little hat is still working, marvelous piece of magic you are Mr Hat." Harry thought, he heard a slight chuckle as a response.

"Well only a descendant would know of my origins, most believe it was Godric who crafted me. I guess we know where to put you."

"Actually we don't, there is more in the mind than just blood after all." Hadrian replied.

"Definitely one of Salazar's, to think they got history so wrong. You are of course correct, you have a curious mind and crave for learning. You are loyal to those that earn your loyalty and willing to work hard to achieve your goals. An honorable and brave young man for sure. Your name and its purpose show you have cunning and of course any young child has ambition to spare." The hat informed him.

"And that brings us to a four way tie. I assume you would now examine the deeper traits of each house and which I follow most. The final step if a conclusion is not reached would be to look for any contradictions to the traits." Hadrian asked.

"Just to spite you I can do it backwards, after sorting thousands of students it's only natural to have a system. Hufflepuff, you aren't an incredibly open nor sharing person like most Hufflepuffs despite your loyal qualities so a no go there. You're bravery only goes so far if it will benefit you or those you care for which is in contrast to the crave for adventure that they seem to have. Ravenclaw is to trusting in knowledge where you question everything so a less likely fit. Slytherin would do well with you in its house, you have the cunning and ambition to bring it back to a house of standing and out if the darkness it has been placed in."

"Why do I get the feeling that you were going to place me in Slytherin despite any in-depth discoveries." Hadrian asked, the hat just laughed and yelled "SLYTHERIN" to the crowd.

The table in green applauded politely as Harry moved to his seat. Finding a spot next to Daphne at the end if the table Harry watched the end of the sorting. By the end Slytherin had a total of ten new students. Four girls, Milicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson. There were also six boys, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyal, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Hadrian and Blaise Zabini.

"I would like to say welcome to our new first years and welcome back to those returning for another year in this prestigious school." Albus Dumbledore spoke from his seat. "Before we begin the feast I would like to say a few words. Nitwit, Oddment, Blubber, Tweak. Dig in." The aged wizard clapped his hands and food filled the tables.

All the students dug in with gusto and piled their plates high with the delicious food. Conversation sprung up between old friends and new. Hadrian however was silent, eyes sweeping across the masses, observing everyone.

"What ya lookin at there Hadrian." Tracey Davis asked him.

"People." He replied simply.

"And what is it you are looking for in these people." Tracey asked again.

"My grandfather taught me to always try to learn as much about a person before you are forced to confront them. You can learn a lot about the first years right now." Hadrian answered.

"So what have you found so far then."

"We have eleven muggleborns for sure and about thirteen purebloods. At the moment in Ravenclaw they are divided into three factions. Gryffindor have a single large group but it appears the muggleborn Hermione Granger is already distancing herself. Hufflepuff is split down the gender line and Slytherin is still building its groups but at the moment we have Draco as the kingpin of sorts." Hadrian said.

"How do you know that." Tracey asked, slightly awed by his inference skills.

"The muggleborns are the most intrigued by the smallest of magics like floating candles and examine the more common foods differently, like pumpkin juice which is common here but not amongst the Muggles. The purebloods are the ones that pay little to no attention to the magic and most wear a family crest on their robes. Gryffindors all talk together but every time the muggleborn says something they roll their eyes and ignore it. Hufflepuffs split is easily visible and so is Ravenclaws." Hadrian said.

"And why do you say Draco is the current kingpin."

"First of all he has money so he will always have the newest things and lots of people are drawn to money. He is arrogant and confident in himself meaning he likes to be popular because it boosts his ego, he doesn't care if he has true friends or not. Vincent and Gregory already follow him like mindless drones and Pansy is batting her eyelashes so much she might fly away. Milicent looks like the shy type and seems to gravitate towards the only person she knows, Pansy, and will follow her. The rest of you don't seem to care enough to change it."

"And what about you Hadrian, where do you fall in the grand scheme of things."

"Well that depends, if someone does something they shouldn't against me, I would have to fix that. If all is well then I am happy to sit in the background and let someone else try and lead. Of course if they lead wrong, they won't lead for long." Hadrian laughed.

"You seem rather confident that you could make the world bend to your will Hadrian." Daphne Greengrass joined their conversation.

"There was something my grandfather once said. If the world doesn't bend when I say so, it will break and shatter into nothingness." Hadrian replied.

"Now that we are fed and watered, I have a few announcements." Dumbledore said. "Firstly, Mr Filch has asked me to infirm you that fanged frisbees are now a banned item, for the full list see his office door. Quidditch trials will be held within the coming weeks, see your notice boards for dates. The forbidden forest is still in fact forbidden to all students. Lastly the third floor corridor on the left hand side is strictly out of bounds to all who do not wish to die a most painful death. That is all now off to bed, pip pip."

"First years follow us." The fifth year prefects called out. Hadrian rose with the group and calmly walked out of the hall, down the steps and into the dungeons. They stopped at a seemingly random point in the wall.

"This is the entrance to the slytherin common room. It is thirty three paces from the start of the corridor, eighty seven bricks or between the seventh and eighth snake carving. The password changes on the first of every month and the months password will always be on the notice board. Don't give the password to anyone outside the house and don't bring anyone outside Slytherin into the common room. This month's password, Runespoor." The female perfect said.

The wall shimmered and disappeared to make an archway into the room. The common room itself was quite large with many seats and tables scattered around for students. The room was circular and the back half of the wall was entirely glass so you could see the lake. To the left and right were two staircases leading down to the dorms.

"To the left are the males dorms and the right are the females. The dorm room system is as follows. there are four levels, the first floor holds the first and second years, second floor has third and fourth, third floor is tge fifth and sixth years and the fourth floor is the seventh years. Each floor has eight rooms. Four on each side of the hall. This year you share the four rooms between you all. There is a bathroom for every floor with eight showers and sinks so be considerate. This changes in seventh year when all eight rooms are available and everyone gets their own. Every room has two beds, two wardrobes and two desks. The room can be split with curtains and you can let anyone you like from Slytherin into your room." The male prefect explained.

"There are a few rules within Slytherin that you all must follow of course. Any issues are to be solved within the house, outside the house, we all stand together. A house meeting may be called which is if course compulsory attendance unless physically unable to attend, napping is not an excuse. No one is to contact Professor Snape directly, you are first to contact a prefect and they will take the issue to him. Prefects are recognisable by the badge and there are six of us. Points are important and recorded within the house per person. At the end of the month for every point you lost and did not earn the house is a sickle into the pot. It resets each month and pays for house parties and such events. I think that's everything other than breakfast is at seven thirty to eight thirty, you get your timetables at breakfast."

The girls fortunately did not have the same issue as the boys did. They had a room each unlike the boys where four people would need to share. Draco immediately claimed a room to himself and placed Gregory and Vincent in another making it slightly easier.

"So who gets the room to themselves." Theodore asked.

"Whoever earns the most points at the end of the year." Hadrian suggested.

"Okay but who gets it this year." Blaise asked.

"Me." Hadrian replied, entering the room

"What, why." Blaise said.

"Because I got it first." Hadrian said simply, closing the door behind him.

As described by the prefects there was a curtain passing down the centre of the room from back to front. The doors for the room were double doors so they can be fully divided into two rooms. There were two beds, one to each side along with two desks and beds. Too tired to customise it at the moment, he changed his clothes and went to bed.


	6. Chapter 6 First day

At six thirty Hadrian's alarm went off, a small metal disk under his pillow that vibrates violently. He slid the time bar back to off and placed it on the desk. It was one of sebastian's inventions that he had found in the vault. The disk had a groove running across it with a small notch at one end. A bead sat in the grove that could be broken and clip back together. When the bed was together the rune of movement completed itself and it moved slowly along the grove. By sliding it to start at set points he could control the time it took to go off. At the end the bead lined up with rune circle to make it vibrate. The circle completed itself and it went off. It was sebastian who developed the idea of self completing runic circles and this was his first use if it.

Hadrian changed into some loosely fitting clothes and a pair of sneakers before leaving his room. He made his way outside and ran two laps around the quidditch pitch as well as fifty pushups, sit-ups, squats and two minute plank hold after every lap. When he finished it was just past seven and everyone was beginning to wake up. A shower and change of clothes later and he was in the hall at seven thirty ready for breakfast.

"Early riser are you boy." A fourth year boy and his friends sat down around him.

"Majority of the animal kingdom has awaken with the sun since the beginning of the earth. Seems to me they are doing pretty good for themselves so I might as well do the same." Hadrian shrugged.

"Wizards have slept past the sun for thousands of years and are the dominant species of the planet." The boy said.

"Are we now." Harry laughed. "Last time I checked there were civilisations of centaur, goblins, merpeople, elves and all manner of intelligent creatures, even dragons have a hierarchy of some kind. Despite what you might think, wizards rule over nobody but themselves."

"So what's your name firstie." A second boy asked.

"Hadrian Peverell, last of the Ancient and Noble House of Peverell. You of course may call me Hadrian, who might you all be." Hadrian said.

"I am Johnathon Greengrass, heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, you can call me John." The first boy introduced himself. John was a tall boy with tanned skin and yellow blond hair cut short. He was well filled out and had the same sharp blue eyes as his younger sister Daphne.

"Anthony Carrow, son of the Noble House if Carrow, you may call me Andy." Andy was a rather short with pale skin and jet black hair. He was only half a head taller than Harry and his sift brown eyes made him the complete opposite of the intimidating figure if his friend.

"Marcus Flint, heir to House Flint, you may call me Marcus." Marcus also had black hair and pale skin but he was tall and thin. He had multiple pimples covering his face and looked slightly trollish.

"Abraham Flint, son of House Flint, you may call me Abe." Abe was a dark skinned boy, despite being Marcus Flints cousin, his skin tone was defined by his African father. He was even taller than John but had a gentle aperrence similar to the gamekeeper Hagrid.

"George Gause, George is fine though." George seemed to be the shy one in the group. Hadrian put it down to his lack of titles compared to his friends. He was about a head taller than Hadrian but really didn't have many stand out features to him.

"Well it is nice to meet you all. What has you up at this time anyway." Hadrian asked.

"Nothing wrong with being awake now is there." Marcus laughed.

"No, sleep is important but too much is not productive. My time would be better spent reading a book of some kind to rest my body. The mind does not need nearly as much rest." Hadrian replied.

"How did you not end up in Ravenclaw Hadrian." Abe asked.

"Because I am exceptionally cunning and or ambitious I suppose, more so than I am intelligent. If everyone with the curiosity to pick up a book was in Ravenclaw then the other houses would all be thick as Hogwarts' walls." Hadrian laughed.

"I like you Hadrian, your funny, do you play quidditch." Marcus asked.

"Not particularly, I enjoy flying but I could happily do that without two iron balls trying to kill me." He answered.

"But that's what makes it fun, the risk, the danger." Marcus said, he began listing all the things he lived about quidditch.

"We could leave and come back tomorrow and he wouldn't notice." George said. "Marcus is quidditch captain this year and to him, broom is life."

"Nothing wrong with being passionate about something. Unless you're passionate about homicide or something, killing an entire race is not a good thing." Hadrian said.

"Unless it's like muggles or something right." Marcus came out of his quidditch fantasy.

"Homicide is rather messy though don't you think, and such a gryffindor way to rule over a group of people if you ask me. I mean what's the most Gryffindor way to conquer the world, start a war and kill anyone who stands in your way."

"True, wouldn't a Slytherin do it using cunning, take over the world without it even knowing it is being taken until the world bows at your feet." John added.

"And dominating the world never works, any ruler of a large group of people is killed eventually. It is impossible to please everyone. Some want the flag blue and some want it red. You paint it blue and the reds kill you, paint it red and the blues kill you. Paint it purple and they both kill you, there is always someone who isn't happy with you." Hadrian said.

"Right, who needs to dominate the entire world when you can buy an island and do as you please on it." Andy said.

"Exactly, I mean ruling the world would be incredibly tiring, I mean you see a king and he isn't sitting on a throne doing anything he pleases, he's stuck in boring meetings and listening to every Tom, Dick and Harry tell him their problems. Ruling the world might be cool for like a week but after that it would get incredibly tiring and difficult to hold the position" Hadrian finished the discussion as the hall began to fill up.

John, Marcus, Abe, Andy and George left Hadrian to sit with the fourth year girls when they arrived. Their seats were soon filled by the first year girls who had just arrived.

"Good morning Daphne, Milicent, Pansy, Tracey." Hadrian greeted them.

"Good morning Hadrian." They replied as they took their seats.

"What you talk about with my brother Hadrian." Daphne asked curiously.

"Oh you know, quidditch, homicide, world domination. Guy stuff." Hadrian replied with a straight face.

"What." Tracey's juice sprayed out of her nose.

"Well Marcus started monologuing about the greatness of quidditch and I said there was nothing wrong with a passion unless it's something like homicide. Eventually we got to the topic of why none of us wanted to rule the world as it would be to much effort. We would much prefer to rule like a small island where we can do what we want." Hadrian explained

"Don't you have any ambition Peverell." Pansy asked.

"I do have goals that I hope to achieve but ruling the world is not one of them. We concluded that is was more effort than it would be worth."

"But you can do whatever you want if you ruled the world." Pansy said.

"Wrong, the only way to stay the ruler of the world would be to keep the world Happy. If you don't then the world will turn on you. Just a decent sized island out of the governments eye means I can do what I want. Not that I would be doing anything illegal but still, privacy and freedom are appreciated." Hadrian replied.

"Slytherin Timetables are at the front of the table." Professor Snape's voice called. Unlike the other heads of houses, Snape didn't see the need to hand out timetables when the students had perfectly good legs themselves.

Hadrian made his way to the stack of timetables and retrieved five first year copies. Returning to his seat he handed them out.

"Thank you Hadrian" Tracey said.

"Your welcome. If you ladies would excuse me I need to get my… charms and history books." Hadrian said.

At nine o'clock the bell rang and the first class if the new school year began. First year charms was shared between the Slytherins and Ravenclaws as it always had been.

"Good morning class, welcome to your first ever charms lesson at Hogwarts, your first lesson at all for that matter. I am Professor Flitwick and over the next five years I will be teaching you a variety of charms that you all will be able to not only perform, but use in your everyday lives. Now who can tell me what a charm is." The sort and excitable charms professor asked. As predicted all the Ravenclaws raised their hands and so did a few Slytherins, Hadrian included.

"Yes, you, what is a charm." Flitwick pointed to Hadrian.

"Hadrian Peverell sir. Charms can be divided into two main categories, enchantments and charms. Enchantments bewitch an object to do something it would not normally do continuously such as make a glass always cool your drink. A charm is temporary and controlled by your wand such as a levitation charm." Hadrian explained.

"Very good Mr Peverell, five points to Slytherin. You are correct but we will not be starting with enchantments until fifth year. Today we will begin on one of the most useful charms known to a witch or wizard. I am of course referring to Lumos, the wand lighting charm. The charm is simple, the incantation being Lumos and the wand movement a simple flick."

The next fifty minutes were spent discussing the history of charms, the different types of charms and what they would be learning over the year. Hadrian mostly edited his text book to include the extra information the charms Professor gave. He also drew up a calendar in the front cover with the course outline so he knew what to read ahead on.

"Alright class, for the last twenty five minutes we will be trying the wand lighting charm. The wand movement a simple flick and the incantation Lumos." Flitwick recapped.

All around the classroom students flicked wands around randomly and yelled Lumos in every way possible. Hadrian instead thought back to the books he had read about magic before Hogwarts. He took three calming breaths and fell into a light meditative trance. He focused on his wand, picturing the tip lighting up with a bright blue light. He focused on the energy he knew was within him and guided it to his wand. A gentle flick of his wand and a muttered "Lumos" bathed the classroom in a large but gentle light.

Usually a wand lit only at the very tip to give light. Hadrian's wand however was not an ordinary wand. He had followed the Slytherin traditions and spent the time between his tenth and eleventh birthday crafting his own wand. His wand was unique and special in every way.

Harry had planned his wand since he was nine years old and spent six months collecting the materials for it. He had studied wandlore and knew his wand must represent not only him, but his magic. Harry had been told he had a strange affinity to pure magic. It was here that he got his talent with wandless magic from.

A study of pure magic revealed that one of the purest forms of magic was in fact familial magic. Harry set out on a quest to incorporate all his familial magical totems in his wand. It was an ambitious goal of that he was certain but he was determined to do it.

His chosen woods, elder and ebony. The two woods suited him well in his opinion. Ebony representing power, protectiveness, balance and purity. Elder represented change, death and rebirth, transformation, regeneration, renewal, healing and creativity. The ebony wood Hadrian felt matched with his magic, pure in its nature, protective of him and those close to him, powerful and balanced. The elder wood represented his life. A change from hell to the heavens, death of his suffering and the rebirth of his future, a transformation from the scared, uncertain, fragile boy he was to the strong, intelligent confident person he was becoming.

He had moved across England in search of his wand cores. He had found the fire gland of a very old Hungarian Horntail from an apothecary in Diagon Alley. From the forbidden forest he had taken a thestral tail hair from the leader of the herd. Lastly, Basilisk venom given by Balthasar to complete it.

It took him the better of five months to carve the woods he had purchased. The design was not easy and certainly special. The two contrasting colours formed two individual wands that spiralled around each other. The elder wood shifted into the centre of the ebony wood and disappeared for an entirely black handle carved into the body of a snake. Its head decorated the butt of the wand and the elder wood came through in the fangs. To bond the woods to him he had soaked them in his blood for seven days.

The ebony section of the wand was filled with the basilisk venom and the dragon flame gland filled the elder wood. The tail hair from the thestral was wrapped tightly around the two woods binding them tightly together. The thin hair barely visible. When Hadrian cast the lumos charm, the tail hair lit up the entire shaft of the wand and the tip also glowed brightly as it usually would made it even more unique.

"Oh Bravo Mr Peverell, on your first try too, what a marvellous Lumos charm. One of the best from a first year I have seen if I may say, twenty points to Slytherin." Flitwick congratulated Hadrian.

"Nox" Hadrian extinguished the wand. "Thank you Professor, I hope I can cast every charm on the first attempt like this one." Hadrian replied.

"I hope so too Mr Peverell." Flitwick smiled.

"Lumos." Daphne called from the seat next to him, she groaned in frustration when she got no reaction.

"Need a hand their Daphne." Hadrian asked.

"How did you get it on your first try." She asked.

"Have you heard the saying magic is lie a muscle. It is incredibly accurate and can be applied here. If I wanted to push a table across the ground do I simply place my hands upon it and hope it moves. No, I tense my muscles and I push. The same applies here, you cannot simply say the incantation and hope it works. You need to find the magic within you and push with it, direct it through your wand." Hadrian explained.

"And how do you suggest I do that." Daphne sighed, across the classroom Padma Patil was giggling with excitement at the very faint glow at the end of her wand.

"Ignore her, yours is going to be brighter. Take a deep breath, in and out, in and out, relax, let go of your thoughts. Deep inside you, an energy is roaming, flowing through every fibre of your body. Feel it, touch it, embrace it, connect with your magic. When you are comfortable I want you to focus on what you want to achieve, picture the small light at the end of your wand, picture the darkness and the light that will fill it. Guide your magic to do as you need it to. When you are ready, a gentle flick of your wand and say the incantation, Lumos." He guided Daphne through the process.

"Lumos." She said softly, gently flicking her wand. A bright light ignited at the end of her wand, not as bright as Hadrians but a successful Lumos nonetheless.

"Oh well done Ms Greengrass, our second proper Lumos, we have some very talented students in this class it seems. Ten points to Slytherin." Flitwick applauded her.

"I couldn't have done it without Hadrian's help professor." Daphne said.

"It was entirely your ability Daphne, I merely pointed you in the right direction, it was you that walked the path." Hadrian replied. Moments later the bell rang and the class ended. The Slytherin students all made their way to the History of Magic class where the Hufflepuffs waited.

"Today we will be learning of the first conflicts between Goblins and Wizards. The treaty of 1328 was signed after an eleven week war between the tribe of …" Hadrian soon lost interest as Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic repeated exactly what was written in the text books.

He tuned out the monotonous voice and read the chapter in his own time. He could read much faster than the Professor spoke and finished halfway through the lesson. He had underlined key points in his text book and wrote a brief summary of the chapter on a piece of parchment that he slipped into the textbook. With the last twenty minutes of the period currently being filled with useless lecturing Harry decided to strike up a brief conversation with the person sitting next to him.

"If only I could record this and sell it, I could make a fortune. Hadrian Peverell's Sleep Aid, guaranteed to put anyone to sleep within fifteen minutes of listening." Hadrian said.

"You would be the richest kid in school. I'm Justin Finch-Fletchly." The boy said.

"Pleasure to meet you Justin, Hadrian Peverell. So where have you come from."

"We had Herbology, it was incredibly boring though. We only got to do a tour of the greenhouse and look at the course outline." Justin said.

"That does sound boring, we had charms, it was mostly theory too but we got to try the Lumos charm at the end." Hadrian replied.

"Cool, I can't wait to learn some magic, I'm a muggleborn you see, all this magic is so cool and I can't wait to do some myself." Justin said.

"I'll give you a piece of advice being a muggleborn." Hadrian began.

"What, stay out of the way of you purebloods, don't come back next year because I don't deserve magic. I know what you people think and I don't care." Justin snapped.

"Not what I was going to say at all actually. I was going to say that despite the name that muggle borns have given it, you are not in Magical Britain. This is Avalon with its own culture, beliefs, traditions and religion. Make sure you remember that and don't try to force British culture into Avalon, it isn't wanted nor needed and will only ostracize you from everyone around you. Don't make the mistake many people have before you, if you have to find a book on Avalonion culture and history, it will help you greatly in your time here." Hadrian said. The bell rang and he left the class without another word.

"Hadrian." Draco Malfoy said during lunch.

"Yes Draco." Hadrian asked.

"Why were you talking to that mudblood dur-" He was cut off by a snake launching from Harry's robes and hissing at him.

"I would suggest you refrain from using such a word Draco, Rex does not like it." Hadrian said coldly. Rex was only inches away from the boys face. The snake hissed violently and returned to the inside of Hadrian's robes, he curled around his shoulders and poked his head back out so he could glare at Draco.

Rex was about four feet long and had dark green almost black scales all over his body. His eyes were a wicked green and so was the small patch of scales on his forehead. If one looked closely enough they would see four small horns slightly protruding from the back of the snakes head.

Rex's hatching was probably one of the happiest memories Hadrian had. It was a surprise to everyone when Helaina laid the black and green egg two years ago. Fifty seven days later Rex broke his shell and became Harry's best friend. The two had bonded quickly and the two were almost inseparable. The only thing that darkened that day on the thirty first of october 1989 was the news that Jasmine had died. Hadrian was naturally very upset and it was Rex that had comforted him.

"Peverell, what kind of snake is that." Blaise asked.

"He's a cross bread, the only one of his kind and unless he has a sibling the last their will ever be. His children will not be the same if he has any. He will of course get a lot bigger than he is now before he fully matures. If his parents are any testament he will be quite large. I believe we have Transfiguration and Potions so I must take my leave." Hadrian nodded to them all and left the hall.

When the bell sounded for classes to begin Professor Mcgonagall was missing and only her cat sat on the desk. Two minutes into the class Ronald Weasley came barreling through the door huffing and puffing.

"Few the old cow isn't here yet, I bet she'd of given me detention." The red faced Weasley said.

'How can someone be that unfit.' Hadrian thougt to himself. Much to the surprise of the class and none more than the Weasley child, the cat lept off the desk and transformed into none other than the aforementioned old cow.

"You are correct Mr Weasley, you will serve detention tonight with Mr Filch and ten points from Gryffindor. Find your seat so we may begin the class. Now can anyone tell me what Transfiguration is." Mcgonogall said. Immediately Hermione Granger's hand shot into the air as she struggled to raise it higher without standing up.

"Yes Ms Granger." Mcgonogall called on the bushy haired girl.

"Transfiguration is the act of using a spell to change an object from one thing to another. Transfiguration can be from inanimate to inanimate objects, inanimate to animate objects and visa versa, the hardest form of transfiguration is animate to animate transfiguration particularly Human Transfiguration." She said in one long breath.

"A brilliant textbook answer Ms Granger ten points, can anyone build on that." The aged Transfiguration Sorcerer asked. Hadrian calmly raised his hand.

"Yes Mr…" The Professor called on him.

"Hadrian Peverell Professor, Transfiguration is more accurately named as reconfiguration. Transfiguration spells use magic to break down an object on a molecular level and reconfigure it in the desired configuration to get the results you want. By knowing how the magic works we can better visualise the spell and get better results as visualisation is one of the key parts of most spells." Hadrian said.

"A very in-depth knowledge of transfiguration you have their Mr Peverell, you are of course correct, five points to Slytherin." Mcgonagall said, Hadrian didn't notice the death glares he was getting from Hermione Granger.

"Alright then class, now that you have a basic grounding in transfiguration we can try your first spell. The incantation is Consuo and the wand movement a slow wave down the length of your match stick." With half an hour left in the lesson Mcgonagall handed everyone a match and they began.

Just like charms everyone began shouting Consuo in as many different ways as possible. Hadrian ignored them all and took a few deep breaths. The same with the Lumos charm he visualised the match from every angle, felt it become harder, turning to steel, becoming pointed and sharp. He pushed with his magic and waved his wand slowly down the length of the match. Staring at the top he began the incantation "Consuo" his wand reached the bottom of the match as he finished saying it. Left on his table was a perfect needle.

"Oh look Professor I did it." Hermione Granger squealed in delight.

"Not yet Ms Granger, it has only partially changed colour, fifteen points to Gryffindor and keep trying." Mcgonagall said.

"Hadrian did it too Professor, a perfect needle." Tracey spoke up.

"Has he now, I doubt it, it is unheard of to get it on the first attempt." Mcgonogall lazily walked over, a stark contrast to her brisk walk to Hermione Granger. Hadrian could see she did not like Slytherins and it was incredibly obvious.

"Well it looks like you might have done it, just to be sure you haven't cheated you can do it again." Mcgonagall said, she waved her wand and an entirely new match was conjured on his desk. Harry focused and cast his spell turning the match into a perfect needle.

"Well done I suppose, ten points for completing the spell." Mcgonagall left his desk and went to help Ronald Weasley who was doing so much wrong it was ridiculous. The bell rang to signal the end of class and Hadrian left to potions completely oblivious to the fact that Hermione Granger was trying to burn holes in him with her eyes.

It only took a single lesson for Hadrian to learn what potions class was. It was not a class taught by a potions master it was a time to brew potions under professional supervision. Professor Snape was not there to teach them the theory behind potions and how things worked. That was for them to learn by themselves through self study. He did point them in the right direction of what they needed to learn with homework essays but he would not be teaching. Potions was a subject that sadly did not come quite so naturally to Hadrian as the others did so he would never understand exactly how the potions worked but he could follow a recipe easy enough. He would survive his OWLs in potions but he knew he didn't have the eye for potions that was needed for NEWTs.

It was still entertaining to watch the Gryffindors get riled up about the Potion Master's unfairness or horrible teaching methods. If they knew how to sit quietly and read a recipe correctly there wouldn't be any problems. Sadly even that seemed to be beyond them.

"So how did you all find your first day at Hogwarts." Jasmine Abbott sat next to the group of first years at dinner.

"Well charms is the current favourite, Professor Flitwick knows his stuff and does a good job at teaching it. History is a joke and Binns just recites the textbook he taught from in the fifties. Transfiguration is decent enough and Professor Mcgonagall knows what she is doing but is rather obvious in her dislike of Slytherin house. Snape seems to only be there to supervise us brew and not teach which is useful but frustrating. He does favour Slytherin but no more than Mcgonagall does Gryffindor." Hadrian summarised his classes.

"Yeah that pretty much covers it." Tracey said.

"Yeah all the professors are at least a little biased towards their house, Professor Snape and Mcgonagall are the main ones though." Jasmine sighed.

"Sitting here and complaining to ourselves will not fix it though, people will always be biased in some way and there is nothing we can do to change it. If others want to judge me for things I should not be judged for then their judgement doesn't matter." Hadrian said.

"Jeez Hadrian, did you just spend your whole life listening to your grandfather spew life quotes or something." Daphne said.

"You can learn the lessons of life through your own mistakes or you can learn from others' mistakes. I would prefer to make less mistakes if I can." Hadrian replied simply.

A/N (1) Harry's mature and rather emotionless behaviour is due to his upbringing. The Dursleys showed him no love at all and beat him for showing emotion. Salazar is a stone statue of an old man whose sole purpose is to pass on the secrets of the Slytherin family. Despite Harry referring to him as grandfather there is no major family bond between them. His relationship with Rex is a close friendship and Harry confides in him

A/N (2) It is not mentioned what the title of Grand Sorcerer means when Dumbledore lists it when he signs his name. Others have used it as a level of magical power but if I did that I would need to give everyone a rating and that gets far to complicated without making Harry super powerful and not a weakling as well as having people of lower classes defeating higher ones. Instead I have decided to make it an educational title. I have also seen stories where they have a Masters then a Sorcerer and the Grand Sorcerer as well as High Master in there sometimes as well. Personally I think that is too many levels. Instead I have divided it into Wanded Magics and Non Wanded Magics. In Wanded subjects like charms, transfiguration or defensive magic the next level of education after NEWTs is a Sorcerers degree and then Grand Sorcerers. For other subjects like potions, runes, alchemy and herbology there are Masters degrees and High Masters.

A/N(3) In this story I will be basing the education system similar to that of New Zealand's NCEA. OWL's will be the equivalent of NCEA level 1. Achieving Acceptables, Exceeds Expectations and Outstandings will be the same as Achieved, Merit and Excellence. NEWT's will be the equivalent of Level 3 with the same grading methods. A Masters or Sorcerers degree will be achieved by apprenticing beneath a Master in the subject certified to take on an apprentice. To achieve a Grand Sorcerer or High Master degree is awarded by the High Masters/Grand Sorcerers Council of the subject and is given for a research project in the subject. An example would be Dumbledore's work with dragon blood in alchemy. Snape is a Potions Master, Flitwick is a Charms Grand Sorcerer and Mcgonagall is a Transfiguration Sorcerer, she is too focused on teaching to complete her research but will finish it eventually. Dumbledore of course also has a Grand Sorcerers degree in Transfiguration.


	7. Please-Read

It appears that I have come across a rather shocking discovery. Holy shit writting a book is hard. With Lord of the Serpants I am half way into writting chapter seven and it really isn't flowing out into docs very easily like it did in the beggining. I have a few other ideas that I have started but put off to try and keep up with weekly posting. End of year exams are coming up and I really want to achieve level one endorced with excellence which I am so close to getting as well as a few level two subjects and IGCSE exams for other subjects thrown in too. School is starting to put the pressure on and keeping up with weekly updates is getting difficult and not allowing me to really edit things. Harry is an exceedingly complex character and trying to build him up from nothing is, who would have thought, really hard. Starting a story from the middle of Rowlings work is a lot easier because characters have a base to work with and only need a few tweaks here and there. I never planned on doing the philosiohers stone and chamber of secrets the same as cannon if it makes you feel better. It was going to be durastically different and I like to think my ideas would make Harry not overly powerful as well as preventing him being incredibly lucky and weak with no aense of self preservation. I was actually going to skip to fourth year train ride in chapter seven and do some flash backs for the key parts of years 1,2 and three. I think I over did my expectations for Harry and didn't really give a good first impression of him. He was supposed to be a very dual faced kind if kid that gives a happy face to everyone making him liked by all but is really quite lonely. He was never going to form deep friendships with anyone except Fleur. Harry would have an extreme hatred for bullies and be incapable of feeling strong emotions due to his up bringing. Fleur would be the only one who understood him having been shunned and then lusted for because of her veela heritage making her lonely and isolated. Even she was difficult to wrote just their first meeting to make Harry recognise at least partly she was like him but not make her weak. Making complex characters practically from scratch is so difficult and you don't really appreciate the work that goes into those that successfully do it untill you try it yourself so hats off to all thise that did a great job of making story characters.

End of story is that I will be trying to finish any story I publish on here before making any updates. The oressure to update a story means I end up rushing it and doing a shitty job which means shitty chapters get posted and the whole story turns into one shitty, confusing mess and a huge waste of time and effort. I hope I can finish this story and the planned following two books. I'd also like to say a huge thanks to the 343 followers, 195 favourites and the 37 reviews from 15 different people and guests. Hopefully I can come back soon and delete this or maybe the entire thing and post a complete story but only lady fate could tell us, sadly I am not in contact with her (maybe asked a seer, they could probably tell you.)


End file.
